


It's Raining, It's Pouring

by lesbianoodle



Series: Drabbles for Davekatweek (2) [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Elementary School, Humanstuck, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, davekatweek, day three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 07:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8154472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianoodle/pseuds/lesbianoodle
Summary: Dave gets a friend, boyfriend, and a way out within the space of three days. Day Three: Kid!Fic





	

**Author's Note:**

> i kept their ages pretty vague in this. also their species (is it humanstuck? probably) 
> 
> you can either picture karkat as a troll or an asian-american (just how i pictured him) because it's written so that he can be either
> 
> it's pretty heavily implied bro is a dick because y'know that's canon and all

There's a kid in Dave's class. He's small, the smallest in their grade, and wears a lot of black sweaters. He knows a lot more than everybody else in their grade because he used to learn at home and learnt a bunch of stuff Dave never knew. For instance, the kid speaks English but he also speaks something else, something prettier sounding, that Dave can never remember the name of. This kid isn't like the other kids. He's different. And he confuses Dave. 

Dave started noticing this kid a few weeks back, since the kid had switched seats to sit nearer the back of the class and had ended up sitting at the desk next to Dave's. He didn't speak to Dave, except to warn him that he better not touch his things, and from that moment, Dave started noticing that kid everywhere. He saw him sitting on the jungle gym with Terezi at recess, he counted how many spots ahead of him he stood in the lunch line, and he saw him at the end of the day when they all lined up to go home. 

Now, it's a rainy day in the middle of April and the line of kids jostle forwards as they all pour out of the school building. Karkat (that's shorty's name apparently) yells something in delight and charges out ahead of the others, fast as a rocket. Dave watches as his classmate runs into the arms of a man, who must be his Bro. That makes sense. But then, Karkat's Bro puts him down and Karkat hugs the other man standing with them. Are they both his Bros?

"Dave, you're in the way!" Jade comes up from behind and makes him jump, pushing him helpfully out of the doorway and onto the playground before anybody can yell at him, "What are you standing there gaping at for?" 

"Karkat's got two Bros." Dave says, dumbstruck, "How come he gets two Bros and I only get one? That's not very good sharing."

They learnt about sharing that afternoon and Dave now considered himself an expert. 

"They're not his bros, silly!" Jade laughs and adjusts her big round glasses, "Those are Karkat's parents. Most kids have them. They're like having a Bro but you normally get two and they take good care of you." 

"Why don't we have 'em?" Dave wants to know. 

But Jade is already running towards where her grandad is waiting. 

With a sigh, Dave looks back over at where Karkat is standing with his parents. One of them has Karkat's backpack in his hand and the other one is lifting Karkat up onto his shoulders, holding him up so that he can see over the crowd of kids. Karkat looks delighted. His younger brother, who Dave has seen once or twice before, is clinging to one of their parents' legs with one arm and a smart phone with the other. He's the one that catches Dave looking and frowns, tugging on his parent's arm and demanding his attention. 

Dave feels hot in the face and oddly... Embarrassed for being caught staring at them. Bro would have probably kicked his ass for staring blankly at him like that. He hopes Karkat's parents don't do that but decides to run out of the school gates anyway, not looking back in case they're chasing after him. He runs down the street before diving into the small gap between two buildings, where he stays, barely breathing, until he's sure they're not chasing him. He peers out and sees nobody. He presses a hand to where his heart is pounding in his chest. 

And then, he walks the rest of the way home in the rain. 

That night, Bro seems to be in a good mood when he gets home; Dave can tell because he didn't kick the door closed and because he seems to be ordering dinner on the phone. That's as much as he can tell without opening his bedroom door at least. Bro lures him out by leaving pizza on the kitchen counter and when Dave comes for a slice, Bro ruffles his hair and almost smiles at him. Definitely a good mood. Dave manages a small smile. 

Bro never asks how school was. "Any kids give you shit today?" 

"No." Dave would never tell him if they did. He's secretly scared of what Bro would do. 

They eat their pizza mostly in silence, which makes Dave feel a little uneasy but it's better than talking about their days. He always gives short, uninteresting answers and Bro never tells him where he goes during the day. After dinner, he ruffles Dave's hair again and tells him that he's going out. He doesn't say how long it's going to be. Before he leaves, Dave hugs him around the legs and makes Bro grunt in slight surprise. Bro very nearly smiles at him. Dave's sure. 

He spends most of the night awake, trying to do the sums that he was told to practice with his parents at home and messaging Jade on the computer. She's fun until she falls asleep and stops replying to any of his messages. Dave tries his other friends, who live far away, but neither are online. He falls asleep under the kitchen table, wondering if Karkat has a Pesterchum. 

The next day, Dave purposely scoots his chair closer to Karkat's during math. He's tired from falling asleep late and his neck hurts from lying on the floor and Bro still isn't home but he tries to look like nothing's wrong. He tries to be cool. He shuffles closer to Karkat again. 

"What is your problem?" Karkat demands, "Don't you know about personal space?" 

Dave is leaning on Karkat's desk. "What's that?"

"It means I don't want you that close." Karkat sounds mad about it, so he moves his seat a little further away. 

As much as he's wanted to, Dave isn't sure he's spoken to Karkat that much before. Karkat is kind of spiky and gets mad at most people who want to talk to him; Dave knows life is easier when you keep your head down most of the time and let people flock to you. Sitting this close to Karkat makes his face feel a little hot. He wonders if that's normal. Karkat doesn't seem to notice and turns away, covering his work up with his arm and continuing to write out his sums. Dave taps him on the shoulder. 

"What?" Karkat demands, huffing. 

"What's having a parents like?" Dave asks, curiously. 

Karkat snorts. "It's "parents", not "a parents". Don't you have any?"

"No." Dave says, remembering what Jade said yesterday, "I got a Bro instead."

"Where are your parents?" Karkat looks at him. His dark eyes are nowhere near as sharp as Dave imagined them to be- they're soft around the edges and are the same colour as chocolate. Dave bets they sparkle when he smiles. Or whatever. 

Dave clears his throat. "Don't know. Bro didn't say." 

Karkat nods. Then, he returns to scratching numbers into his exercise book and Dave returns to staring out of the window. The birds outside settle on the grass, jumpy at first but settling down; only to be startled away by the sound of the bell for recess, flying up into the sky. Dave waits for them to come back but they don't. So, instead, he ties his coat around him like a cape and runs outside for recess. He spends the entirety of recess with Terezi chasing him around, in a furious game of kiss chase. He doesn't want to kiss her. 

He likes Terezi a lot- she's his friend- but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to kiss her. 

Instead of having English last lesson like they usually do, their teacher announces that they're going to have a special art lesson instead. She's making a display to fill the empty space on the wall they've had since Gamzee and Terezi joined forces to destroy the last display. She tells them that they need to make a piece of art titled ABOUT ME. Dave frowns at how vague the instructions are. Then, the teacher goes to refill her coffee and chaos breaks loose. 

The art supplies are already spread out but there's a rush to grab the best ones. Terezi and Gamzee are already fighting over who gets to eat the paste. Rolling his eyes, Dave moves past them and snatches up the red paint. Or he tries to. Somebody's hand lands on top of his and looking up, he locks eyes with Karkat. 

"Red is my colour." Dave says, quickly. 

"It's my colour too." Karkat replies. 

"You don't wear red." Karkat always wears grey or black. 

"It's still my colour." Karkat considers, "I guess we can share if you really want to." 

His hand is still pressed over Dave's. And Dave realises that he likes it. 

They spend the afternoon sitting close together so that they can stick their paint brushes in the same bright shade of red. Dave can't help sneaking peeks at Karkat's artwork and trying to figure out exactly what it is he's drawing. Karkat might have many different strengths but painting is definitely not one of them. Dave keeps asking him "what's that thing?" and "what's that supposed to be?". And Karkat keeps saying "that's a car" and "that's a cat". 

"Car cat." Dave realises, looking at the picture, "You're funny."

"It's something my best friend used to say." Karkat shrugs. 

Their pictures get stuck up side by side on the wall. 

Karkat's parents are both waiting outside for him and his brother. He actually mumbles a "bye" to Dave before darting away, which makes Dave's chest flutter in a strange way. His stomach does a flip-flop like it does when he's on the roof and he accidentally looks over the edge. He offers a small wave and then, heads in the direction of the school gate. When he looks back, Karkat's parents are both looking at Karkat and listening to him talking loudly as ever. Some of his words drift and Dave catches his name in there. He smiles to himself. 

When he gets home, Bro is back and slumped asleep on the couch. Dave breathes a soft sigh of relief that he's come home safe again and retreats to his bedroom to snack on the chips he keeps hidden underneath his mattress. Bro hasn't found them yet. Dave eats them quietly, careful not to crunch too loud in case he wakes him up. Bro doesn't like to be woken up when he's taking a nap, especially when he's just gotten home from wherever he goes. 

Dave sneaks on the computer to ask Jade if Karkat has Pesterchum and if she knows his handle. He makes sure to close his logs, so that his Bro won't read them again. 

In the morning, Bro is awake and has already vanished into his room. Dave knows because the door is tightly shut instead of slightly ajar like it usually is. He knows not to go in there unless he wants his ass kicked, so he goes to get breakfast. When he tips cereal into his bowl, a puppet falls out instead and he nearly screams. He locks a hand over his mouth and picks the puppet up between his thumb and his finger, tossing it aside. He watches it slumped defeated on the kitchen floor and listens to his heart pound in his ears. 

Karkat catches up with him on his way into school.

"Hey, Dave." He says, greeting him by name for the first time ever. 

Dave nods, knowing that if he opens his mouth, he might cry. It's one of those kinds of days. Bro didn't come out of his room to see him off to school but Dave swears he felt like he was being watched- maybe because of the puppet lying on the floor? He didn't want to move it again. He didn't want to touch it again. He shudders, just thinking about it. 

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Karkat frowns, flicking Dave on the arm. 

He flinches. "Nothing. I'm cool." 

Karkat seems unsure. "Okay? If you say so." They turn the corner and enter the school gates, walking side by side; Karkat might have short legs but he walks fast enough to keep up with Dave, "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something. You said something about video games, right?"

"Uh?" Dave thinks back, "I guess." 

"Yesterday." Karkat prompts, "You said you wished you could play a new video game because all you can do is play the same ones over and over. Remember?" Dave nods, "Well, Dad said you could come over tonight for dinner. After school. If you want."

"Dad?"

"My parents." Karkat explains, helpfully, "You really don't know anything, do you?" 

Maybe it's because of the puppet in his breakfast or because he's hungry from eating chips for dinner and nothing for breakfast or because he's tired from the bad dreams he keeps having but Dave can't help feeling angry about that. Karkat thinks he knows so much? He doesn't know shit about Dave. He doesn't know a single thing about Dave's life. He speeds up his pace and walks away from him because otherwise, he's going to yell or cry or both. 

"You don't want to come over then?" Karkat calls after him, sounding puzzled, "Fine, then. I'll just ask somebody else."

Dave kicks a desk as he walks into the classroom. It's not that he doesn't want to go to Karkat's house, he can't think of anything else that he'd rather do. He certainly doesn't want to go home, so any excuse to escape there he should welcome. But he's scared. What if he doesn't go home and Bro gets mad? What if Bro comes after him and Karkat as well? Dave isn't sure he'd know what to do then. And he's mad. No, he's jealous. He's jealous of Karkat. 

He not only wants to be friends with Karkat anymore- he wants to be best friends and he wants to hold hands and he wants to _be_ him and for all those reasons, he wants to smack Karkat in the face. Because he's confused and his thoughts are blurry and it must be Karkat's fault. 

The morning lessons are a daze to him. He spends recess running away from Terezi. She's giggling, she's having fun, but he wants to puke. Why can't anything make sense? 

"I get if you don't want to come over." Karkat says, after recess, "But you can't just ignore me and not tell me what I did wrong." 

Dave leans on the desk and rests his head in his arms. 

"Is something wrong?" Karkat asks, a little gentler, when Dave doesn't respond, "What's going on? Why are you mad at me today?"

Dave wants to tell him he isn't mad but he opens his mouth and only a sob escapes. 

"Dave?" 

The sob is followed by a prickling feeling in his eyes as tears start to form. At first, they drip so slowly down his face that if he keeps his face pressed to the desk, nobody will notice. His face grows very wet and sticky. With the tears come little gasping noises, which give him away, and Karkat is quickly tapping his arm in concern. Dave lifts his head to wipe his nose on the sleeve of his shirt and sucks in some air, making a hideous choking noise as the tears start free falling. Obviously, the teacher comes over and tries to intervene. 

When she talks to Dave, he just shrugs her off because how could she possibly understand any of it? If what Jade said is anything to go by, most people don't have Bros and most people don't understand that a puppet in the cereal box means he's mad. He only does stuff like that when he's mad or going to be mad soon- cold, empty mad not yelling mad. The teacher tries to take him outside the classroom but she touches him shoulder and he squirms away. 

"I'm fine." He insists, sniffing, "I- I don't feel well."

"Why don't you head up to the office and get them to call your brother?" The teacher says. 

He can't do that. Bro won't want to be bothered. But he takes the excuse and escapes the classroom with a hall pass, wandering around the corridors with tears drying on his cheeks as he walks. He doesn't really go anywhere, he just waits until he's stopped crying and then dries his face as best as he can. He returns to the classroom and tells the teacher he feels better. And he does. He feels better for letting some of his frustration out. 

At lunch, Karkat stands by him in the line and asks him what's going on. Dave just says he's fine and shrugs a lot in response to his questions. The attention is thankfully diverted from him when Terezi knocks over a table as she runs through the cafeteria. 

"Typical." Karkat scoffs, though it doesn't sound too harsh. 

"Terezi wants me to be her boyfriend." Dave says, looking at where the blind girl has skidded into the wall, "I don't want to be her boyfriend."

"You want to be my boyfriend?" Karkat asks, as they get nearer the front of the line. 

Dave's heart jumps. "What?"

"If you don't want to be her boyfriend, do you want to be mine?" Karkat says, matter of factly, like it's no big deal. 

Dave nearly skids into a wall himself. "Uh, sure, I guess." 

He wonders if Karkat can tell how excited he is. 

"Now will you come to my house?" Karkat demands. 

And that's why, at the end of the day, Dave follows Karkat obediently over to where his parents always wait. His brother- Sollux, his name is Sollux- peers from behind of his parent's legs curiously at him before dismissing him with a scowl. Karkat's parents are not a lot like Karkat, although he does look an awful lot like one of them. One of them is very soft-spoken when he addresses Dave and shakes his hand politely, like Dave's a grown-up or something. The other one just gives him a high five and greets him with a "sup". 

Karkat introduces Dave as his new boyfriend and his parents look at each other knowingly. Sollux says that he doesn't like Dave very much and his dad tells him that's rude to say but Sollux just sticks out his lip and refuses to apologise. Dave doesn't mind. 

"Do your parents know you're coming with us?" One of Karkat's parents ask. 

Karkat looks horrified. "Dad, I told you not to ask that. He doesn't have parents." 

Dave turns bright red. "Bro won't mind."

He crosses his fingers behind his back. 

Going to Karkat's house is an entirely different experience to going home, even if the house isn't far from Dave's apartment. As they walk, Sollux gets to walk between his parents and tell them about the computer game he played today. They both hold his hands. Dave nods along. The house is in the same part of town but it looks entirely different- they have a doorbell and curtains at every window and there's nothing propped above the door to fall on them. Dave is told to take his shoes off at the door and only wear his socks inside the house. He's bewildered. 

Karkat drags him upstairs immediately. The stairway is decorated with pictures of him and his brother to try and hide the peeling wallpaper underneath. The room at the top of the stairs has several KEEP OUT signs on it, which stops Dave in his tracks abruptly. 

"You can come in. It's my room." Karkat tells him. 

This is nothing like Dave's apartment. 

Karkat's room is full of books and movies and posters. It's a lot like Dave's room except everything looks reasonably fresh, unlike Dave's belongings which were nearly all Bro's before they belonged to him. It looks like nearly all these things were bought new for Karkat. His dads must really, really like buying him things. Karkat lets Dave sit beside him on the carpet as he fiddles with his PlayStation. Dave can't stop staring at it, he's so jealous. 

He puts a controller in Dave's hand and tells him he can be Player One. Dave has never been happier. 

They play a Mario game and it's a different one to the one that Dave has at home. At first, he struggles to be sure of the controls and fumbles a little. But Karkat leans closer to him and tells him what each button on his controller does. Dave feels more confident when Karkat's hands are resting on top of his and showing him how to play. 

They still don't get very far because Dave keeps dying. The more times they lose, the louder Karkat gets until he's yelling at the screen. Every time he does, Dave is dumbfounded that his parents don't come upstairs with swords. If Dave made that much noise, Bro would probably slide a note under the door demanding a fight on the roof. Instead, all that happens is one of Karkat's dads pushing the door open a little and asking Karkat to keep it down a little. 

Then, he gives them a plate of cookies. 

"I want parents." Dave decides, when they've given up on the video game and are just trying to throw pieces of cookies into their mouths.

"No you don't, they're embarrassing." Karkat says, successfully catching a piece of cookie in his mouth. 

"Yeah but they don't make you be quiet. And shut you in your room if you're not." Dave misses and swears under his breath. 

Karkat doesn't say anything but he bites his lower lip. 

Dave doesn't stay for dinner because he's sure that he's overstayed his welcome by now. He's working out the quickest route home, stepping outside, when one of Karkat's dads follows him with his car keys and offers him a ride. Dave glances nervously down the street and wonders what Bro will think if he gets driven home by Karkat's dad. But he gets in the car anyway and slips down in his seat, hoping Bro is either asleep or out. 

In the car, Karkat's dad talks a lot to him as he drives. He says that it's really nice to meet Dave and he'd like to meet his brother too, so that they could talk a little. Dave shakes his head frantically, until he drops the subject. The rest of the car ride is silence, except from Dave directing him to his block. When he gets out of the car, Karkat's dad tells him to wait a moment and Dave's scared that he really does want to talk to Bro. 

"I know you and Karkat haven't been friends too long." Karkat's dad says, "And that we only officially met today. But if you're having problems at home, Dave, you can tell me." 

"Thanks for the advice." Dave says, nodding, as he shuts the door. 

"At the church, we like to help people in need." Karkat's dad adds. 

It never occurred to Dave that he might need help.

He trudges up the stairs slowly, deliberately not taking the elevator so that he has longer to think of an excuse for being back so late. His heart beat in his chest so loud that everybody in the building could probably hear it. His hands got sweaty. He figured out just as his hand rested on the doorknob that he could say he was at a school club and pray Bro didn't demand evidence. But he didn't need to bother. Bro had gone away again. 

There was a note stuck to the table saying he'd be back whenever and if Dave needed food, he could just eat whatever he wanted from the stash in his room, right? 

Dave swallowed, knowing that Bro must have upturned his room in order to know that and glanced at the door to his bedroom. It was hanging open and from here, he could see that the mattress had been torn off the bed. He ran a hand through his hair nervously and walked over, pushed the door a little more open. His entire room had been wrecked, every single drawer opened and everything belonging strewn on the floor. Dave picked up a CD off the floor and found that it was cracked directly down the middle. He dropped it again. 

He went to the computer and found Jade had messaged him back with Karkat's chumhandle. He typed it in and opened sent a serious of quick messages, checking over his shoulder to make sure that Bro doesn't suddenly return. 

TG: karkat  
TG: yo karkat  
TG: its dave  
TG: i need to talk to you and your dad about something


End file.
